A Libyan author looks back on life under Ghaddafi. Thanks to Jean.
Living to Resurrect Libya
by Aziza Bazama, July 25, 2011
https://shababliby.com/shabab/?p=1215
If you had asked me to remain in my country five months ago – I would have hesitated. Not for the lack of love or appreciation, but rather the dim outlook on its future
My country had been sucked dry from all its beauty, wealth and grandeur. It was like a red-breasted robin caged within the dark dismal shadow of a hunting cat. Afraid to show its beauty, sing its song, fly its wings of freedom
Its youth, us, aging within our minds. Our hairs greying before their time. Our parents dying for they are now old, fifty. If you reach 70 years of age, you are a living legend
Liver sclerosis is widespread, alcohol is not. Scurvy is widespread, dental hygiene is not. Diabetes is widespread, adequate healthcare is not. Schools are widespread, education is not. Universities lack basic facilities, such as computers, laboratories, and internet access. Heads of departments within universities hold nothing more than Junior Level Certificates to their names. How did they reach that position you ask?
They know Gaddafi
The beginning of the end of emotional and mental poverty was born on February 17th 2011. The new date of birth for all of Libya
The diamonds within the rough emerged and did what no man before them could do. They stood before their oppressor, armed with nothing more than faith, loyalty and moral strength. Characteristics absent within their so called leader. Their voices bellowed beyond the streets, mountains and shook the walls of his compound
It was on that day that every young man that sat outside a shop and whistled at a passing girl. The young man that gave up on searching for work and looked into travelling abroad. The young man that fought with his neighbour over football then took him out for pizza as an apology. It was on that day; those men rose and became our heroes
The legends of Libya
They are, we are, the children of Omar Al-Mukhtaar
We knew our uprising would differ to Egypt and other countries. For our lives had been different. We were ruled by an iron fist. For forty two years we could not mention his name without suffering frightening consequences. Now we dare to speak to him and ask for our rights and freedom
This would anger the barbaric beast
Family after family mourned losses because of this man. Families were torn apart as lives were ripped out and replaced with hollow pangs. If you practiced your religion devotedly, you deserved to be captured and tortured. If you were friends with those that did, you best run in fear if you are not caught
Our meals were controlled. He decided when we ate Lamb, Chicken, Fish etc He decided what websites we could access. If he was angry with a city, they did not receive the luxury of food. He decided who could leave or return to Libya. He decided if we are worthy of electricity, clean drinking water etc He decided that the average wage would be 200LY (law number 15), leaving little or no means to clothe, shelter and feed a family. He decided that if a person entered an empty home and stayed one night in it, that home and all its belonging legally became theirs. Law number 4 caters for the confiscation of private and commercial property, practically passing such stolen properties to the members of his family and of its so called revolutionary committee members who are in charge of security
He had and still has spies worldwide. They would monitor every Libyan’s life. Who they spoke to, where they worked, their family links back in Libya, what they spoke about etc. Everything was reported back to him. If you dare to utter a word against him, you and your family’s lives were at risk. If the spies were angry with you, they would abuse their powers and blacklist you.
Not to mention the peculiar unwritten law of forbidding the mention of the names of any Libyan official by the national media, except those of himself and immediate members of his family. Even in football, no names of players were allowed to be mentioned, except that of his son because Gaddafi regarded stardom as a political crime. Sport was not safe.
Hundreds of men went missing in the Chad war, over 20,000. One of the most pointless wars to date. Families were left without fathers and sons without explanation as to what happened or where they are. Twenty five years later, they are given a small sum of money and told they are now considered “victims of war” and they have recorded them as “dead”
Libya’s devil in female form, Huda Ben ‘Amer, has hanged numerous men. One of the most infamous is being that of a man in the middle of a university in Benghazi, accused of plotting against Gaddafi in USA. She kicked and swung out of him to ensure that he was dead. My auntie, a student, turned her head to only be slapped on the face by a female guard and forced to watch in fear
Later, he, Mr. Al-Shuwehdy was found to be innocent. Officials arrived at the house of his wife and children, to apologise, giving her a sheep and money. A poor, disgusting attempt to replace a true man. A brother, uncle, husband, son and father
He is one of hundreds, if not thousands that she killed. Gaddafi committed some of the most brutal human right excesses in the late 70′s and early 80′s. Libyan students were hanged in universities, sport auditoriums and public squares simply for not adhering to the green book ideology
In reality, their crimes were nonexistent
Young and old men were disappearing without a trace. They were being snatched from the streets and their homes for speaking out or knowing people that do. Forty two years later, during the uprising, an underground prison cave was unearthed in Benghazi, with remains of human bodies except for a few frail men
One of the most heartbreaking atrocities that took place was on June 29th 1996. The Abu Salim prison massacre, where he ordered the killing of 1,270 political prisoners
Not forgetting that Gaddafi’s agents killed WPC Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in London on April 17th 1984. Along with many other Libyan political dissidents through a campaign that he calls “Eliminating Stray Dogs”
Gaddafi has also shot down a civilian Libyan airliner over Libya killing about 150 passengers. Bizarrely he had given the doomed flight a similar flight number to the Lockerbie airliner. This atrocity was also committed on the anniversary of the Lockerbie airliner
The thousands of Libyan people that died due to the constant discharge of untreated sewage in the sea in close proximity to the cities of Tripoli and Benghazi is agonising. Private Libyan citizens yearly spend on average 5 billion dollars in Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt out of their pockets for medical treatment, because they have completely lost trust in the Libyan health care system
The terrifying truth is that civil infrastructure, healthcare and the education system have failed beyond disbelief in the last 40 years
He demolished stunning structures from history. Buildings that symbolised the heroic history of our country such as the parliament and foreign ministry buildings in Tripoli. He destroyed the mausoleum (in Benghazi) of Omar Al-Mokhtaar and then removed his remains, to bury them in a remote oasis, which in itself was an act of desecration to the national pride. This is all in an effort to continuously rewrite Libyan history according to his twisted personal ideology and personal grandiose
This is besides the fact that, he has complete and utter total disregard for the teachings (Sunnah) of the prophet Muhammad and his failed attempts at altering the Quranic text
For many years, Gaddafi squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on terrorist organizations such as the IRA and the red brigades, and on separatist movements in Africa, the Far East and central and Latin America
He is responsible for the abolishment of the Libyan constitution (compiled by a team of leading international jurists) which symbolized the smooth birth of Libyan independence and its national sovereignty as voted for by the general assembly of the UN.
He is responsible for the forced military training of very young male and female students
He is responsible for the use of Libyan women as so called revolutionary nuns as personal bodyguards
He is responsible for the declaration of war on Switzerland for arresting one of his sons and his wife for beating up the domestic staff
He is responsible for the HIV infection breakout in Benghazi. Over 500 children were affected because the sterilization equipment was malfunctioning
He has squandered unimaginable wealth on his propaganda machine; mainly managed by such figures like Mr. Ali Al-Kilani and Mr. Abdullah Mansour
He is responsible for suffocating our country
He is responsible for destroying, abusing, destroying and killing our country and its people
He is the reason this revolution took place and this revolution will not end until he is destroyed
Libya will be resurrected and loved loyally